Private Rhodes, aged 21, was taking part in an army mountain leadership task with four other soldiers when he spotted Mr Carter in agony.

Pte Rhodes said: “It was really bad weather and we were making our descent down Kentmere Pike when this civilian in front of us fell and broke his ankle in two places and snapped his knee. The weather was that bad it was just a fog, you could hardly see 20m in front of you.

“Immediately we went to help him.

“Straight away we knew he had done something as I could see his face was in hypothermic shock.

“He was in a lot of agony. He could not move his leg.

“He was violently shaking, he was confused and complaining of coldness. He was in a pretty rough state.

“We just wanted to get him down the mountain and to safety as quickly as possible.”

Pte Rhodes and the four other soldiers made a make-shift stretcher out of a tent sheet and managed to navigate down the 730m-high mountain in the fog.

Pte Rhodes, who was born in Rotherham, said: “It was really difficult to navigate down the mountain.

“The weather was really bad and we could hardly see where we were going.

“It was dangerous terrain. There were boulders and steep drops, and the rain was coming in sidewards.

“We were just pleased we got down and he got the care he needed.”

The soldiers have received a commandant’s commendation for displaying ‘exceptional determination and courage’.

Pte Rhodes said: “It is nice to get recognised when you do something like that. We didn’t know we were going to get anything from it.”